Foods High In Folic Acid

What is folic acid? What does it do to our body? What are the foods rich in folate? It is important to know the kinds of vitamins vital for our body to function healthily. One of these vitamins is folic acid or Vitamin B9. Read on.

Also known as Vitamin B9, Bc or folacin, it is a type of Vitamin B that is soluble in water essential for cell growth and the creation of new cells. It is the main component for the red blood cells production and anemia prevention. The vitamin is likewise essential for the production of DNA synthesis and metabolism of protein.

Folacin is most important to women’s health, especially the pregnant women since it helps to make the fetus to develop as it should be and therefore, prevents birth defects. This does not mean though that men do not need it. All cells in our body regenerate, thus everyone needs this vitamin. There are many health benefits of folic acid, it is also helpful for the brain and lessens chances of strokes because it lowers cholesterol.

The Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for folacin is 400 micrograms daily. But for pregnant women, it is higher by 200 micrograms per day. This is easy to attain if you ensure to include one or two foods high in folacin in your meal every day. Learn to understand nutritional facts on food labels. The labels indicate the Percent Daily Value (%DV) to guide us what we are getting from food stuff. Thus, if DV is 5% or less, it means the food is low in folate. If it has 20% or more, then it is assured to be high in it. This is helpful to know how much intake of the vitamin we are getting per day because making a habit of eating large quantities of it can also impair absorption of Vitamin B12.

Aside from food supplements, the better way to get it into our body would be through natural sources of food. It is mainly found in leafy vegetables such as celery, lettuces, spinach, turnips, and cabbage. Among other vegetables that have high content of folacin are sunflower seeds, dried beans, asparagus, okra, collards and broccoli. Most vegetables retain it if eaten in the form of salads. Other foods are wheat germ, peanuts and fortified cereals. In fruits, oranges, strawberries, cantaloupes and other melons are good source of this supplement.